Alejandra Castaneda

PhD project title: Fermentation of plant material of European origin for better texture, taste and nutritional properties of tempeh-like foods

Short description of the project

The project aims to develop a tempeh-like product using locally grown faba beans and whole‑grain oats as an alternative to soybeans. It focuses on fermentation using selected microorganisms and investigates how microbial consortia and processing methods influence nutritional properties—such as protein content, fibre content, digestibility and reduction of anti-nutrients—as well as sensory quality assessed through trained panels, volatile profiling and consumer tests.

Supervisors

Main supervisor

• Galia Zamaratskaia, Department of Molecular Sciences BioCenter, SLU

Co-supervisors

• Su-lin L. Leong, SLU
• Volkmar Passoth, SLU
• Maud Langton, SLU
• William R. Newson, Department of Plant Breeding, SLU

Location

Uppsala, Sweden

Food engineer (M.Sc.), with degrees in Food Technology and Nutrition, and in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Lund University.